Thursday, July 18, 2013

I said I was going on a marathon of stitching the Chester Criswell quilt blocks because the first year of block patterns was over. I felt like I was a year behind. A post earlier this month showed the first two blocks I made. You can see them here. Now I will show you my blocks three through twelve.

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Block number twelve was the fussiest to stitch. I used reverse applique creating the small flower centers. The leaves with the embroidered curly q's at the tip have reverse applique for the little red sections.

Here is a picture of all twelve blocks. They are not trimmed to size as of yet. I will wait to the end to do that. I am using Moda Bella solid for the background and it tends to ravel.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The snowman row quilt top is done. Now off to Mary of Quilt Hollow for her to work her magic doing machine quilting. This is not the best picture in the world. DH's arms do not stretch clear to the edge of the quilt top in order to hold it out for a good picture.

If you have been following the construction of this quilt top, you will remember that it is a combination of cotton on cotton and wool on cotton applique. The bare branch trees and all of the wildlife are wool. I used mainly brushed cottons for the applique backgrounds. I used lots of plaids which is something I like. The stripe fabric between the rows is a regular cotton. I like quilts with houses and who doesn't like a snowman quilt! I am happy to have my part done on this quilt.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

I feel like I have been on a marathon stitching race. I am a year behind on the Chester Criswell quilt blocks. It has been presented as a block of the month in PDF form by Sharon at Two Bits Patches. You can see the quilt and get pattern information here. The first pattern is free. Sharon is in Australia but the nice thing is that you can use Pay Pal to make payment and that the files come via your e-mail. You can purchase the first year for $22 Australian. The second round of patterns will be starting a bit later this summer including the larger center block. There is a blog with information about the various blocks and you can find it here. I decided it was time to start on the blocks and play a little catch-up. Here are the first two blocks.

I am almost done with the third block. I have several more prepped and ready for stitching.

I finished an applique block with a flower in a pot and two birds. I need help in identifying the designer. I evidently put the pattern away as it was not with the prepped block parts. I have searched through patterns and books and cannot figure out where the pattern came from.

Have you seen the little two inch finished basket block pattern available from Temecula Quilt Co.? So tiny! The pattern is free and available here. I have seen the little basket blocks showing up on blog posts and a challenge within a prim Yahoo group to make some. The idea was to make one basket block a day for each day in July. Then there will be two quilt layouts using those blocks. I tried one block and you can see it below. I don't think I will continue making them. I would rather make them a bit larger and be able to use up some fabrics in the scrap basket.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

A bit late for June but I finished two more blocks for "Sweet and Simple". Block seven is "Follow the Sun" and is my favorite of the two I made for June.

Block 8 is called "Garden of Hollyhocks". A lot of small parts to stitch on this one.

I did the center block for a quilt I found in Primitive Quilts and Projects. The summer 2013 issue. The quilt pattern is called "North and South". I have not done any cutting for the pieced blocks. The eagle block is a bit darker than I intended but there are some lighter strips coming into the quilt.

And the last block is from the Noah's Ark quilt I have in the works. I may wait a bit before stitching any more of the animal blocks. They are going to be easier stitching and would be good to take on vacation.

I have so many projects in progress that it is hard to keep track. A list would be good and I may do that. I am in the mood to do some more blocks for "Sweet Land of Liberty" which you can see the top section of the quilt in my header. I did some prep work for three blocks to add to it. I think with our 4th of July holiday coming up, I am in the mood for red, white, and blue.